Item Description: Paris Charles Gosselin Libraire, 1831. First edition, first issue with no subsequent edition statement on the title page. Two volumes, exquisitely bound by Cuzin in nineteenth century full green morocco with raised bands to the spine and geometric border design to covers and spine compartments. Titled in gilt, with gilt dentelles and edges and marbled endpapers. 212mm x 130mm (page size). Engraved title pages to both volumes, complete with half titles. A fine, tall set, barely trimmed with many leaves uncut, all beautifully clean with no chips or tears. Two inconspicuous book-labels to the front blank. The binding has been retained in sparklingly fine condition. A superb example of this rarity of Gothic literature in a fine Parisian binding. The author's first full length novel, that is now one of the key works of nineteenth century literature, and upon which much of the author's reputation rests. The first edition was published in an edition of 1100 copies which was subdivided into four issues with a different edition statement on the title page. Thus there are only 275 copies of the first issue. The book has subsequently been published in English under the title, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Francisque Cuzin (1836-1890) was regarded as the finest bookbinder in the world at the time. "If you want a volume bound in the highest style of art the man to go to is M. Cuzin of the Rue Séguier. who took early to bookbinding, and is now at the head of the hadicraft in Paris, and perhaps the world." - The Pall Mall Gazette (December 1886). "This first edition, in fine condition, is the rarest of all the works of Victor Hugo; it has had a resounding impact worldwide, and is one of the most difficult titles of the Romantic period to obtain" (Translated from Carteret - Le Trésor du Bibliophile Romantique et Moderne) Carteret I 402. Bookseller Inventory # 25480

Item Description: Charles Gosselin, Paris, 1831. Full Morocco. Book Condition: Very Good. Johannot, Tony (illustrator). First Edition. Two volumes complete - Volume One - [8], 404pp and Volume Two - [4], 536pp. Bound in later full straight grain morocco by Canape, raised bands, spines in five panels, with larger central panel, author and title to second panel, volume to fourth and date to foot, panels to head and foot with mirrored device, larger central panel with quadrilobe inside a roundel with the same device above and below. Covers with triple fillet bordering a frame comprising corner pieces joined by quadruple fillet, edges with gilt roll, inner dentelles gilt, top edge gilt, other edges gilded 'in the rough', bronze silk endpapers. Slightly rubbed to extremities, otherwise bright and clean. Internally very lightly browned, but clean. Now both housed in morocco-entry slip-cases. With half-titles. Binding is by Canape and is signed and dated on turn-ins. A lovely copy of a scarce classic. Vicaire IV:256-7 Size: 8vo. Bookseller Inventory # 000300

Item Description: Paris Émile Testard 1889, 1889. 2 volumes. Limited issue of the Édition Nationale, one of only 250 copies printed on Japon of a total edition of only 1000 copies. Illustrated with large engraved pictorial head-pieces by Luc-Olivier Merson each provided in two states, one in place and one on an adjacent plate and with a number of full page engraved plates also by Merson and also provided in two states, an engraved portrait of Hugo in each volume, printed by Gery-Bichard. Large 4to, lusciously bound by Charles Muenier, one of his 'Cuir Incisé' bindings and a fine, large example. The bindings are of full chocolate morocco, laid into the boards are large panels incorporating alternative materials, with elaborate and laid designs of gargoyles, leaves, angels and griffons worked within the framework of a Rose Window. In the center of each window are large circular inlays featuring; a portrait of Quasimodo, a goat, a gargoyle and a spider on its web. The spines feature tall raised bands ruled in blind with handsome gilt lettering and a red and brown morocco inlay portrait of Quasimodo, the inside boards are finished in brown crushed levant with an elaborate gilt and blind panel design, the flies are of marbled paper backed in silk, a.e.g. Each volume has a matching chocolate morocco chemise trimmed with fine marbled paper, the spines are with raised bands matching those of the volumes and with gilt lettering and with rose-window tooling. There are matching marbled paper and morocco slipcases for each volume. The publisher's original printed wrappers to the books have been preserved inside these magnificent bindings. 371, (1); 424, (8) pp. A superb copy with both volumes in extremely fine condition. A MAGNIFICENT BELLE ÉPOQUE SIGNED AND DATED BINDING BY CHARLES MUENIER IN HIS FINEST 'CUIR INCISÉ' FASHION. In this binding style in which a panel of incised leather is worked and molded and then sunk into thick boards of traditional morocco. To succeed in this technique requires great delicacy of handling, but when done correctly provides an equally great scope for emblematic treatment. Meunier was one of the small handful of masters in this technique. Effective and daring, Muenier brought this craft created by Grolier to a new more latter-day aesthetic. he particularly aimed to achieve an artistic and psychological interpretation of the contents of every book he bound. A student and thinker, as well as a craftsman, he believed that the chaste and formal bindings to which we are all accustomed were impersonal and inexpressive. He held that that they seldom or never bore the slightest relation to the text they held within. In short, Muenier wanted us to be able to judge a book by its cover. To achieve this, Meunier combined the restrained craftsmanship of the early masters with the bolder inventions of the nouveau style. Bookseller Inventory # 25130

Item Description: Paris: Gosselin, 1831, 1831. 2 volumes, octavo (220 × 137 mm). Uncut in contemporary quarter calf, rebacked with original spines laid down, black spine labels, sprinkled paper-covered boards, preserved in a half-morocco folding case. Binding extremities worn, some foxing or browning, but still a very good copy. Each title-page with a wood-engraved vignette by Tony Johannot. First edition, first impression. According to the publisher's own statement in the Journal des débats (10 May 1831), the first impression of 1,100 copies was separated into four groups, each bearing a fictitious "édition" statement on the title-page, a scheme designed to make the public believe that the novel was selling rapidly. All four "éditions" are textually identical (witness the identical pagination errors on II, 439 ["339"] and 491 ["391"]). The title-page of this copy reads "Quatrième édition". Bookseller Inventory # 18515

Item Description: Philadelphia: Macrae-Smith, n.d. [presumably 1939], 1939. Photoplay edition. Both the book and dust jacket are illustrated with scenes from the 1939 film. This copy has been inscribed and signed by Laughton, as well as by his wife Else Lanchester. [With] a five page carbon copy contract, dated August 2, 1939 (months before the filmÕs release) between Laughton and R.K.O. Radio Pictures regarding withholding tax, noting his compensation for this film in the amount of $38,000.00, as well as the amounts to be held in escrow. Signed on the last page by Laughton as well as the film companyÕs vice-president. The book is fine in a dust jacket with very light wear and tear; the contract is in fine condition. Bookseller Inventory # 32431

Item Description: Paris Charles Gosselin, 1831. Victor Hugo’s Gothic Masterpiece HUGO, Victor. Notre-Dame de Paris. Quatrième édition. Paris: Charles Gosselin, Libraire, 1831. First edition, first printing, fourth issue ("Quatrieme édition"), of Hugo’s gothic masterpiece. It is generally accepted that the publisher indiscriminately printed different editions on the title-page of all copies to make the book seem as if it was now in four editions, however the text is all identical. Two octavo volumes (8 3/8 x 5 3/16 inches; 212 x 132 mm.). [8], 404; [4], 536 pp. Complete with half-titles. Wood-engraved title vignettes after Tony Johannot. Contemporary drab boards with green calf spine labels decoratively stamped lettered in gilt. Some light foxing. Small paper flaw just affecting blank lower corner of 8/1 (pp. 113/114) in Volume I, and a similar paper flaw just affecting the lower blank corner of 19/4 (pp. 295/296) in Volume II, a few additional minor marginal paper flaws. Armorial bookplate of E. Van Havre and small orange paper shelf label on front pastedown of each volume. Embossed stamp of E. Van Havre on title of each volume. Overall, an excellent copy. "This first edition, in fine condition, is the rarest of all the works of Victor Hugo; it has had a resounding impact worldwide, and is one of the most difficult titles of the Romantic period to obtain" (Carteret). Gosselin brought out the novel on 16 March 1831 in an edition of 1,100 copies, as was his general practice. This first printing was distributed into four separate issues of 275 copies each, the subsequent three issues being designated as "second edition," "third edition," and "fourth edition" respectively on the title-pages. "Johannot’s title-page vignettes for the first edition of Notre-Dame de Paris show Quasimodo in the pillory receiving a drink from Esmeralda (Volume I) and Esmeralda escorted to the gallows (Volume II)" (Ray). Ray, The Art of the French Illustrated Book, 180. Vicaire IV, cols. 256-257. HBS 65480. $9,500. Bookseller Inventory # 65480

Item Description: H[auteville] H[ouse, Guernsey], 9 Feb. [1860]., 1860. 8vo. 3 pp. In French, to Noel Parfait in Paris: "Your kind letter moves me. You are sad and happy at the same time, and it is quite normal. Homeland is sweet but exile is grand. One goes back home but one has to give up one's freedom. I understand the double shock your soul is experiencing. But it does not matter, dear Parfait. You are going to be happy, I have no doubt about that. You are taking into the darkness that prevails in France nowadays the serenity of a proud conscience and the satisfaction of having overcome the ordeal. You will feel respectable among all the despicable people. That is an austere kind of joy but it is indeed a joy. Thank you for all the details you gave me. I congratulate and envy Dumas, who was able to help you and ensure that you will have enough to live on in Paris. That, plus all the intelligence, style, grace, talent and virtue that you have! I assure you that you are going to do very well. I am sorry for H.M. the world's biggest scoundrel [H.M. stands for His Majesty, most likely Louis-Napoleon], but there is going to be one successful honest man in Paris. I already know seven or eight of them, maybe nine, and that will make ten with you. Our friend must be in Brussels at the moment. Tell him that I am going to answer his letter and ask him to send me, in the meantime, the issue of l'lndependance (by mail, since it costs two sous there and six francs here) in which my note on George Sand was printed. Also, I would like to have his address in Brussels [ ]". In a postscript, Hugo as added, "Would you be so kind as to have the first of the two letters I am enclosing handed over to Bance, whose address I do not know, and mail the second one in Brussels? Sorry and many thanks". - In February 1860, Hugo was still living in exile on Guernsey, still writing about the darkness that prevails in France and the world's greatest scoundrel. It was an exile that had begun in December 1851 when a coup d'etat took place in France, which eventually resulted in the Second Empire under Napoleon III, and it did not end until the return of liberty and the reconstitution of the republic on 4 September 1870. However, his exile had recently become a voluntary gesture and an act of pride, a time to stand against Louis Napoleon. On 15 August 1859 (the birth of Napoleon I), Napoleon III offered an amnesty to exiles, which was accepted by some, but not Hugo. In a poem, "Ultima verba", he marked his decision, stating "No one will suppose that I personally can take any notice of the thing called an amnesty. In the present condition of France, protest - absolute, inflexible, eternal protest - that is my duty. True to the engagements I have made with my conscience, I shall share the exile of freedom to the end. When freedom returns, I shall return". The truth of the matter was that Hugo could not return during the reign of Napoleon III without inflicting a deep wound on his pride, and he could not resign himself to that. He was also well aware of the status and commercial value of banishment, even though the banishment was now self-imposed. The personal defiance of Napoleon III, the deliberate choice of martyrdom, gave Hugo a new heroic dimension. - With integral address leaf. Bookseller Inventory # 44254